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SUBSTANCE 



DISCOURSE ON ELOCUTION, 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE WESTERN LITERARY INSTITUTE 

\ 



AND 



COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS, 



AT THEIR 



FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING, 



HELD IN CINCINNATI, OCTOBER, 1835. 



BY DONALD MACLEOD, A, M. 



CINCINNATI: 

PRINTED AT THE CINCINNATI JOURNAL OFFICE. 

1835. 



P/V4/30 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

After the delivery of this discourse, the subject was discussed, at a meet- 
ing of the College, and the following resolutions were agreed to unanimously : 

1. Resolved, That this College recognize the importance of Elocution, as a 
branch of study, and recommend the introduction of it into colleges and 
schools. 

2. Resolved^ That a committee of one be appointed to report to the next 
Annual Meeting of the College, ' a practical system of instruction in Elocu- 
tion.' 

3. Resolved^ That Mr. Donald Macleod be that committee. 

In compliance with the above request, I have, now, in preparation, a work 
which, it is hoped, will answer some of the purposes of 6 a practical system of 
instruction,' in this branch, and be an acceptable present to the teachers and 
students of this country. D. McL. 

Cincinnati) Nov. 27th) 1835. 






s 



DISCOURSE. 



The low state of elocution amongst us is universally admitted. 
It is agreed, on all hands, that the style of speaking prevalent 
in our legislative and popular assemblies, at the bar, in the 
pulpit, the chair of professorship, and among the students 
of all our seminaries of learning, is, so far as respects delivery, 
faulty in the extreme. In the humbler branch of reading, 
there are deficiencies quite as flagrant, and much more nume- 
rous. The English language is greatly impaired — almost de- 
stroyed by the majority of those who employ it; and very few 
of the rest are accustomed to give to it all the perspicuity, 
energy, and elegance of which it is susceptible. 

Where shall we look for the causes of this corruption? Not, 
surely, in any insensibility on the part of the mass of our fel- 
low-citizens to the value of good reading and speaking. De- 
livery is, by no means, a matter of indifference to them. It is 
the very reverse. It is held in the highest estimation. Let 
any one, who would satisfy himself of this, listen to the remarks 
of his friends and neighbors in regard to some distinguished 
pleader, or preacher, or political orator, who had just before 
moved or delighted them with his eloquence. For one remark, 
which would lead an observing man to suppose that their at- 
tention had been engaged by the subject-matter — the large 
or correct views of the speaker — the soundness of his rea- 
soning — or the rhetorical beauties of the composition, he will 
hear a dozen observations which show that they were chiefly 



interested by his appearance and manner — by looks, tones, 
and gestures. This is the case, whether the speaker be a man 
of genius, or very moderate abilities. Nothing is more un- 
questionable, than that a speech quite faultless in point of 
composition — combining with excellence of matter, the purest 
graces, and utmost energy of style — will produce little immediate 
impression on the audience without a corresponding delivery. 
On the other hand, persons of the truest taste and most solid 
erudition, will listen for hours with fixed attention, admiration, 
and delight, and not unfrequently with conviction, to men 
possessing an earnest, unaffected, and harmonious elocution, 
although they have no great recommendation besides. In fact, 
so much are people in general governed by the externals of 
oratory, and so essential, therefore, is this branch, that no 
powers of mind, and no other rhetorical accomplishments, 
whatever, can fully supply a deficiency in it. The most 
splendid and powerful passage in the records of ancient or 
modern eloquence — the most impassioned and beautiful pro- 
ductions of the poets — the masculine vigor of Dryden — the_ 
wit of Congreve — the pathos of Otway — the glowing inspira- 
tion of Shakspeare himself, unless illustrated and enforced by 
a suitable elocution, will fall upon the ear spiritless and 
unsuccessful. 

And yet, notwithstanding the high consideration in which 
this branch appears to be held by the public, so seldom do 
we meet with excellence or any great proficiency in it, that it 
may be said with entire truth, a good delivery is the rarest of 
all accomplishments. Among the causes of this deficiency, 
we may justly designate as by far the most productive, the 
narrow and unphilosophical plans of rhetorical education 
which have been adopted in our colleges and other seminaries. 
In some of these no attention whatever is given to delivery — 
the persons under whose charge the students are placed, 
thinking it of no value — and being influenced to that opinion 
by qualifications similar to those which prompted Scaliger to 
pronounce his absurd diatribe against the usefulness of mathe- 
matics, and Dr. Johnson to underrate the importance of the 
natural sciences, namely, an overweening vanity in their own 



pursuits, and shallowness in those which they decry.* In 
others, some time and attention are given to the subject, but 
unfortunately a beginning is made at the wrong end. The 
student is required to exercise himself occasionally in reciting 
poetry, or declaiming passages from the orators; but before he 
has spent an hour in studying the principles of the art, either 
as to voice or action. And even in this careless and untutored 
practice, he is left principally to his own guidance; all that is 
usually insisted upon, being the pronunciation of some passage 
in some manner or other, once or twice during each term. 
In other institutions, again, the place of a rational and com- 
prehensive scheme of instruction is supplied by a most per- 
nicious system, which can only produce habits of speaking in 
no way adapted to the character of earnest debate and orato- 
ry, and altogether inconsistent with natural effect. The 
bad effects of these systems may be clearly distinguished 
in all the succeeding rhetorical pursuits of students who 
pass through college, and on every occasion when in the dis- 
charge of professional, academical, or political duties, they are 
called upon to speak or read in public. The majority of them 
either labor under the most painful constraint and embarrass- 
ment, from not having been accustomed to face an audience, 
or hear the sound of their pwn voices; or else they have con- 
firmed the habits of incorrect, pompous, and noisy declama- 
tion, acquired at school and college, by practice after the 
manner of their old academical exercises: by attending deba- 
ting societies and spouting clubs, and there attempting to de- 
claim the glorious eloquence of Chatham and Burke, or to en- 
act Hamlet and Macbeth. Alas! they 'imitate humanity 
abominably!' — in daring to give utterance to the written spells 
of genius, before they have bestowed any pains on the me- 
chanical, or intellectual part of elocution — before they have 
learned to perform on that most potent and expressive of all 
instruments, the human voice, or even subjected the compo- 
sitions selected for this idle display, to the close and searching 
analysis, without which no man ought to presume to read 

* Vide Inaugural Discourse of Thomas Campbell, author of 4 Pleasures of 
Hope.' Glasgow, 1827. 

1* 



aloud the highly wrought passages of a great orator or poet. 
Others there are, possessing a partial and imperfect knowledge 
of rules, and some of the mechanical resources of the elocu- 
tionist — powers of voice and gesture — who deform their read- 
ing and speaking, by what they, no doubt, consider highly or- 
namental action and intonation, but which are such affected and 
meaningless ornaments, as could only be tolerated by persons 
of the most sophisticated tastes. You will find this class of 
persons continually straining after effect. All is done merely 
for the purpose of displaying their powers: and their looks and 
attitudes seem to keep up a running commentary on the 
whole performance, thus — 'Was not that a spirit-stirring 
note?' 'Did I not make a most harmonious cadence there?' 
'What think you of that majestic sweep of the arm?' — or 
serve the purpose of a prologue — 'Now I'll rouse your pas- 
sions — now I'll melt you to tears — and now I'll give you peal 
after peal of lofty and swelling declamation!' Finally, we not 
unfrequently find all these faults combined in the same indi- 
viduals. How many there are who have taken no pains about 
delivery, and yet are accustomed to employ tones and gest- 
ures, which it would be impossible for the most unwearied 
perverse industry, to make more completely the opposite of 
what nature would suggest, either in her rude or civilized 
state. 

Such being the present condition of this subject, it becomes 
a very serious question, one worthy of the profound conside- 
ration of this most respectable meeting, and of every reflecting 
man in the community — 'Can any system be devised, which 
will furnish correctives for the prevailing faults in reading and 
speaking, and enable the student to discharge his duties in the 
higher walks of oratory with satisfaction and success?' I an- 
swer this question in the affirmative; and it gives me great 
pleasure to have an opportunity of presenting to the college 
of professional teachers, and to the liberal and enlightened 
community among whom I hope to spend the remainder of my 
life, some outlines of what I consider a rational system of in- 
struction in elocution, and of illustrating them by a reference 
to the method of tuition, I have been accustomed to pursue in 



my own lecture-room. In doing this, I am perfectly aware 
I shall meet with some very strong objections. There are 
two classes of persons, more particularly, from whom little 
favor is expected. The first comprises all those, to whom 
every species of elementary discipline is an intolerable hard- 
ship. They must have a more easy and familiar method, than 
is consistent with the philosophy of elocution. The present, 
therefore, will not serve their purpose. They tell you that in 
conversation men always speak with spirit and energy, just 
emphasis and expression; and, therefore, that the surest and 
shortest road to the attainment of a good delivery, is to as- 
sume, on every occasion, the conversational manner. 'When 
you read, talk — when you speak, talk!' is their maxim; and 
they think, they may safely venture on their task of reading 
and speaking in public, if they can only throw diffidence and 
hesitancy to the winds, and utter the spontaneous suggestions 
of their own minds, or deliver the thoughts and sentiments 
contained in the book or manuscript before them, with the 
ease and earnestness that characterize their manner in the 
social circle. Now it is admitted, that the tones, and looks* 
and gestures, which accompany spirited colloquial discourse, 
do approach the desired excellence more nearly, than the 
public speaking we generally hear, or the early efforts of the 
pupil in reading or recitation. But still the colloquial style is 
deformed by the faults we have hinted at, and for w T hich we 
are now in search of a corrective. How often is the utterance 
of the most fluent and animated conversationist, in a great de- 
gree, spoiled by indistinct articulation — discordant and inex- 
pressive intonation — a constantly recurring monotony — and 
such violent perversions of the vocal elements, as not only 
destroy all grace and beauty, but hazard even the perspicuity 
of the expression. The subjects and occasions of familiar 
discourse, indeed, from their very nature, are apt to give habits 
of hasty, insipid, and meagre enunciation, which cling to us 
when we go up to act a part in the great scenes of public busi- 
ness; and constitute some of the worst and most dangerous 
faults a speaker can possess. A man may display most of the 
characteristic qualities of earnest conversation, and yet be a 
poor reader or orator after all. 



It is undoubtedly true, that persons of very strong and deli- 
cate feelings will occasionally exhibit the highest beauties of 
elocution, merely by giving themselves up to the impulse of 
sentiment and emotion. But this only proves that genuine 
feeling, by itself, can accomplish much: and by no means 
shows that they would produce less effect, if they possessed 
the skill and resources, which art can bestow. On the other 
hand, it is equally true and important, that were they able to 
call in the aid of artificial culture, they might do that always, 
and with infallible certainty, which nature, to be sure, prompts 
occasionally, but only in her 'rare moments of enthusiasm.' 
Rare, indeed, have been the instances of perfect elocution, 
w T hich have not been the results of patient, constant, and ani- 
mated previous exertions. Years of even careless practice 
may greatly improve the capabilities of the voice, and impart 
habitual ease and freedom to the attitudes and movements. A 
man of little aptitude for rhetorical pursuits, may, in this way, 
become a fluent, unembarrassed speaker; for fluency and self- 
possession are matters almost entirely mechanical, and have 
little to do with high intellectual or moral endowments. But 
never can a man be made truly eloquent, by such a process. 
Attend to the performances of the most of those, who contend 
for this, as they call it, natural, manner, and point out, if you 
can, a single felicity of vocal expression or gesture. The 
powerful arguments, the apposite reflections, the striking and 
original imagery may frequently command your admiration, 
and impress your hearts, in spite of the tones and motions 
which accompany them. But though the speaker is able to 
stand before you without constraint or embarrassment, and 
though his language flows in one continued stream, yet the 
poor and meagre qualities of his voice, his inability to employ 
the signs of many varieties of thought and emotion, and his 
absolute incompetency to give to any of them the clearest, 
most forcible, and agreeable expression, will deprive him of all 
claim to the attribute of eloquent. As well might he attempt 
to take a high rank among painters and sculptors, by mere 
practice, without possessing any knowledge of the great 
principles exemplified in all the immortal productions of the 



chisel and pencil, as to become eminent in elocution, without 
studying the established principles and rules of this art. But 
we have been long enough engaged in combating this idea. 
They are only the idle and vainly ambitious, who can bring 
forward such an argument. It is a cloak for their own indo- 
lence. They think theirs the easier method; and with great 
reason; for so far from being difficult is the talking style re- 
ferred to, that any man who chooses to try, and can look an 
audience in the face without being discomposed, may acquire 
it with as much rapidity, and as little demand on his intellect^ 
as any other merely mechanical habit. 

The other class to whom allusion has been made, comprises 
persons worthy of the highest respect, — although among them, 
likewise, it is an error no less common, to turn away from 
all artificial culture in elocution. They know that nothing 
great in any branch of human knowledge or improvement 
was ever done without labor; and they are willing to pay the 
tax of labor imposed on every important acquisition. But 
they have found the means offered by teachers of elocution 
entirely inadequate to accomplish their object. They have 
reason to believe, that the majority of persons, who have ap- 
plied themselves to the systematic study of delivery, have 
failed; or, (worse still,) acquired a formal, unnatural style, infi- 
nitely more objectionable, than their former faulty manner. 
They have consequently come to the conclusion, that elocu- 
tion cannot be taught — that all rules and systems are at the 
best useless. They have resolved to go on as before — ac- 
knowledging their delivery to be extremely defective, but 
yet holding that with all its faults, it is the best attainable by 
them, and that the superiority of others is either a gift of na- 
ture, or the accidental acquirement of practice.* Nor is there 
any necessity or room for surprise at this prejudice, when we 
look at the qualifications of the men, who have come amongst 
us professing to teach elocution. They have been generally 
persons of feeble intellect, and unregulated fancy, or at least 
entirely ignorant of the great principles of the art. The most 
popular of our instructers, if we may judge by systems and 

* Whately's Rhetoric, part 4th, chap. 1, sec. 1. 



10 

their results, appear to have no idea of delivery but as an 
exhibition of merely mechanical power, addressed to the eyes 
and ears of the audience. What ought to be the real design 
and purpose of the reader and speaker — to address the mind — 
is altogether forgotten, or made a subordinate subject of assi- 
duity. 

It would be hard, however, if the incompetency of the pro- 
fessors of an art, should be allowed to bring the art itself into 
discredit. And notwithstanding the failure of other systems, I 
come here to day to maintain that elocution can be taught; 
that by a more philosophical, close, and vigorous method of 
tuition than has hitherto found a place in our seminaries, some 
degree of excellence in this branch may be attained. When 
I introduce to your notice the system which has been pur- 
sued in my lecture room, I am very far from presuming that 
it is the best that can be devised. Many alterations and ad- 
ditions may undoubtedly be made with advantage; but how- 
ever imperfect it may appear, it has been found by experience 
to serve some of the most valuable purposes of a course of in- 
struction in rhetorical delivery, namely, the correcting of ex- 
isting faults, and furnishing means, whereby the student of 
vigorous faculties and generous ambition, may approach per- 
fection in this art. It is believed, gentlemen, that those who 
have knocked at the doors of your schools and colleges, seeking 
the means of improvement in this branch, and have sought in 
vain, may find what they desiderate in this system — A system, 
which while it requires the student to confine himself, in the 
first place, to the study of principles and rules — to acquire a 
mastery over them, before he enters upon the more genial and 
inviting business of reading and recitation, is yet opposed al- 
together to quenching the ardor of youthful emulation — A sys- 
tem which, so far from discouraging, actually urges the daring 
aspirant to oratorical distinction to use his own powers — fol- 
low the suggestions of imagination and emotion — and thus, 
with nature for his 4 law and impulse, 5 

'Snatch a grace beyond the reach of art,' 

whilst at the same time it impresses upon his mind, that, in 



11 

spite of occasional exceptions, the great things in elocution 
have been achieved through intense preparatory labor. Let 
me say to the youthful and ambitious students present — to the 
boy-orators — Deplore no longer the absence of means of 
improvement. — If you have the marks of improveable dispo- 
sitions, mentioned by Quinctilian, ; Puer mihi ille detur, quern 
laus excitat, quern gloria juvat, qui victus fleat,' — then only be 
faithful to yourselves, — 

4 Shun delights and live laborious days,— 

and the facilities which have been supplied by the close ob- 
servation and indefatigable industry of Walker, Sheridan, and 
particularly Rush, will render the acquisition of a good delive- 
ry a comparatively easy task. 

These facilities, it is believed, are embodied in the art of 
elocution of which an outline is now to be offered. Observe^ 
it is the art of elocution, not an art which is proposed. Dr. 
Whately has, in his valuable works on logic and rhetoric, re- 
ferred to a just and important distinction between ; the art, ? 
and 4 an art. 5 I use the former of these terms as he has ex- 
plained it, and, when it is applied to elocution, I mean not 4 a 
system of principles and rules by the observance of which a 
man may speak and read well,' — but ; such rules and princi- 
ples as every good reader and speaker must conform to, whe- 
ther he has them in his mind or not.'*" The system aims to 
point out not how clearness, grace, and energy of expression 
may be produced, but how they must be produced. It is, in 
fact, founded upon an analysis, if the expression may be allow- 
ed, of the management of the voice, countenance and gesture, 
by those who succeed in reading and speaking with elegance 
and effect. Now, if the analysis be correct and philosophical, 
it is sheer nonsense to talk of the system of practical disci- 
pline established upon it, as having a tendency to impart 
habits of formal and artificial elocution. And to confound 
this with other systems of a wholly different character, for the 
purpose of bringing, to bear against it, evidence of failure 

* Whately's Rhetoric. Introduction, sec. 1. 



12 

and imperfection, is so low and contemptible a species of 
sophistry, as scarcely deserves to be noticed. 

The requisites of perfect elocution, which are set before my 
pupils as the objects of their labors, are the following. 

I. The elocutionist ought to possess powers of voice and 
action, capable of expressing every mode, and modification of 
thought, and emotion, clearly, forcibly, and agreeably. 

II. He must fully understand, and thoroughly feel the 
thoughts, sentiments, and emotions, to which it is his business 
to give utterance. 

III. He must be entirely and exclusively occupied with 
them at the moment of utterance. 

IV. He must have taste to guard against impropriety and 
extravagance in the use of his powers of expression, so that, 
in the language of Campbell, the graces may lend their zone to 
every passion of his breast— 

i Taste, like the silent dial's power, 
Which, when supernal light is given, 
Can measure inspiration's hour, 
And tell its height in heaven!' 

A little reflection will satisfy us, that the prevailing faults 
are merely deviations, in a greater or less degree, from these 
requisites. Thus, many persons do not readily apprehend the 
exact amount and kind of meaning contained in a given pas- 
sage; and are far from having a proper sensibility to the nature 
and depth of the emotions of the author. Many others, per- 
haps the majority of people, find it extremely difficult to give 
their attention, to the degree required, to the subject matter; 
even when the composition is their own; and consequently 
can experience, at the time of utterance, none of the fervor 
and earnestness with which they wrote. Their minds are 
constantly wandering away from the business in hand. They 
are occupied with speculating as to the opinions their audi- 
ence is forming of their performance — the sounds of their 
voices — and too frequently, with mortifying reflections upon 
their own incompetency to command attention, or elicit ap- 
plause. And then, so far is the uncultivated voice, which is 
also frequently unpractised, from being capable of expressing 



13 

the varieties of thought and emotion with force and beauty, 
or even the perspicuity necessary, that if we were to select 
twenty of the most accomplished and erudite men in the com- 
munity, and ask them to read aloud a piece of animated and 
diversified composition, of their own — which they might be 
presumed therefore to understand — we would scarcely find 
one among them, who could make such transitions in pitch, 
and employ such inflections, and forms of emphasis, and ca- 
dences, as the character of the passage required. Finally, it 
is not uncommon for those, who possess, by the munificence 
of nature, or have acquired by practice, considerable powers 
of voice and gesture, to outrage the taste and understanding 
of the sensible portion of the audience, by the misapplication 
or extravagant use of them — or by conceited and affected 
spouting — for I can give no more dignified name to that spe- 
cies of declamation, which is a mere display of the speakers 
powers, however admirable they may be. 

The course of instruction, which is proposed as a corrective 
for these faults, and as the means of acquiring the before- 
mentioned requisites, is founded on the following princi- 
ples. 

I. That the powers of expression by voice and gesture 
cannot be improved, nor their improved manifestation ren- 
dered habitual, but by frequent and regular exercise. 

II. That the subjects about which they are exercised 
ought to be selected with reference to these powers, accom- 
modated to their condition and progress, and such as are 
qualified to interest the minds, and encourage the exertions 
of the students. 

III. That the lectures and illustrations of the professor be 
so composed and adjusted, as to furnish proper materials for 
exercises in extemporaneous speaking. 

IY. That the exercises ought to proceed in a regular se- 
ries — at the opening of the class, beginning with the merely 
mechanical practice of the elements of vocal expression and 
gesture, and proceeding in due time, to the display of these, 
in the delivery of interesting passages from the works of the 

2 



14 

poets and orators, and in the expression of the student's own 
thoughts, on the topics discussed in the lectures. 

It will not be expected that I should on this occasion go into 
details. Were I to do so, I could not, in the limited time 
allotted to this discourse, occupy more than a very small por- 
tion of a field, that is wide enough to afford ample materials 
for an entire course of lectures. All I can hope to give you 
is a general conception of the system. The means of culture 
are first applied to the voice; and the mode of practical disci- 
pline I have adopted, is founded on that recommended by Dr. 
Rush. While I have availed myself freely of the improve- 
ments, which a comparison of other systems in England and 
this country, and of their diversified results, has suggested, 
yet I gladly express to Dr. Rush my acknowledgements of 
obligations, greater than have been conferred upon teach- 
ers of elocution, by all other writers on the subject ancient 
and modern. His well-directed powers of observation and 
analysis — his patient ingenuity — his great and unwearied in- 
dustry have greatly enlarged the boundaries of the science of 
speech. Or rather, it may be said, in his hands, elocution has 
assumed, for the first time, the dignity and importance of a 
science. There is little left to wish for, beyond a scheme of 
instruction, in which the principles he has established shall 
be condensed and simplified, and thus rendered more fit for 
practical use, than they are in his voluminous record. An 
attempt has been made at this object in the present system. 
The first stage in the process, is to lay the foundation of a 
o-ood delivery in habits of clear and correct articulation. This 
can be done most effectually by practice on the alphabetic 
elements. After this is accomplished, let the student then 
proceed to learn successively the five great modifications of the 

Voice, FORCE, PITCH, TIME, QUALITY, aild ABRUPTNESS, tO which 

all the varieties of speech may be referred. For the purpose 
of calling out these powers, and improving them, I know of 
no method so good as that of practice on the alphabetic ele- 
ments. Let the student then take these, and exercise himself 
in exhibiting on them, all the varieties of voice which come 
under the five heads just mentioned. This practice perform- 



15 

ed regularly, and persevered in. cannot fail to strengthen the 
general capabilities of the voice, and engraft upon it a facility 
of acting in every required mode. 

In a similar manner the cultivation of gesture ought to be 
iucted. The simple elements should be first explained 
and illustrated: and the student should be gradually led on to 
exercise himseU in the lis lay :: them, singly, and in their 
most difficult combinations. Let it not be imagined, that this 
elementary practice has any tendency to produce formality 
or constraint. In proportion tc :he accuracy, .with which 
these elementary steps are taken, will the pupil's progress be 
facilitated, and his final attainments be valuable. It is usual. 
speak of practice of this son having a tendency to cramp 
and fetter the natural powers. Bnt this is not necesss 
the case. -Xon obstante says Quinctilian. ; hee disciplinae per 
illas euntibus. sea circs, iilis haerentibus. 'Such lisci] line im- 
pedes not those who pass through it as an avenue, but 
only those who linger around it as a resting place/ 
What Sir William Jones said of languages, 4 I would apply, 
with a slight modification, tc these expressive signs by ~ 
and gesture. They are the mere instruments of elocution, 
and should not be confounded with elocution itself. But. at 
the same time, let me press . : m you the importance :: 
gence and accuracy in this stage — making these elements the 
subjects of strict unwavering attention, and regular animated 
jrou wish tc iccomplish any thing great in de- 
livery. 

After having thus developed and improved, in some n - 
sure, his powers . f *x session, the student is prepare: 
upon the second branch of the business of the course — reading 
and declamation, in selecting the e:e:^^ in these, constant 
reference should be had to thei 

and give him a ready command over th 5 - irces, which 
the previous elementary practice has opened up. They should 

sist, in the first : ice, of sentences to which the s 
modes of intonation are appropriate: and :eed gradually 

* c Languages are the mere instruments of learning, and should not be con- 
founded with learning itself. 1 Discount to tit* Asiatic Si 



16 

to passages calling for a more bold and lively expression, and 
finally to those which demand the highest and most diversified 
coloring, of which language is susceptible. In this part of the 
course, the importance of making a close analysis of every 
passage, that is to be read or recited, with a view to a proper 
understanding of the character and force of it, must be pointed 
out, and illustrated. This practice of analysing composition 
cannot be too strongly recommended, and insisted upon. It 
affords an excellent exercise to the faculties of the mind; inas- 
much as it requires continual and close reflection and thought, 
and a vivid state of the imagination and feelings. It is a just 
remark of a distinguished American writer* — and his testimo- 
ny is more valuable, because his own genius places him far 
above the imputation of mortified vanity — that 4 a man may 
possess genius without being a perfect reader, but he cannot 
be a perfect reader without genius.' 

In this division of the course, also, another most important 
principle, which has been stated, must be born in mind. It 
cannot be too often repeated — I would hazard the danger of 
wearying the student with line upon line — precept upon pre- 
cept — for the purpose of impressing upon him, the importance 
of fixing his attention, at the moment of utterance, closely 
and exclusively on the subject matter. Those who are un- 
accustomed to read in the presence of others, will at first find 
it difficult to do this. But it must be done. And every ex- 
ercise in the class ought to have reference to it; for by prac- 
tice, all that is desirable in this respect may be attained. No 
other qualification will serve the purpose of the elocutionist, 
if this be wanting. And therefore it becomes so highly impor- 
tant to adopt the system of previous elementary discipline, 
that has been recommended. No direct attention must be 
given to rules at the moment of utterance — for just in propor- 
tion as the elocutionist does this, he necessarily withdraws 
his mind from the business in hand, and must therefore fail in 
real earnestness. It is the more necessary, consequently, that 
we should labor to acquire the power of expression, and make 

* Rev. Orville Dewey, author of the admirable article on Elocution, in the 
64th number of the North American Review. 



17 

the ready employment of it habitual, for the reason that the 
manifestation of the power must be spontaneous. The slight- 
est appearance of taking pains about our voice or gesture, 
would be sure to spoil every thing. No tasteful or sensible 
audience would tolerate a man, who appeared to be thinking 
of what tones or motions he should make. To be impressive, 
he must be in earnest. But this precept is far from implying 
that he need take no pains at all, as is usual w 7 ith the sticklers 
for the natural manner. The present system requires the 
greatest pains to be taken, in order to bring his powers of ex- 
pression to the highest state of cultivation — because it is only 
when they have been brought to this condition, that the precept 
4 be in earnest' can be of any use. He may then be as proudly 
disdainful, as he pleases, of giving any direct attention to 
rules and principles; for he will spontaneously conform to 
those which are important — And he will be natural, too; not 
as those understand the term on w 7 hose lips it is frequently 
found — but truly natural and truly eloquent. 

If our only object were to turn out good readers and declaim- 
ers of the compositions of others, we might stop here. But it 
should be a principal object of a comprehensive scheme of in- 
struction, to impart grace and energy to the manner, in which 
the pupil expresses his own thoughts and feelings. This can- 
not, however, be accomplished with perfect success, by the 
teacher of elocution alone. He must have the co-operation 
of the professor of rhetoric; for it is to this department, that 
extemporaneous speaking properly belongs. Still, something 
may be done towards making the student's own style of ex- 
pression, conform to the principles of elocution; and with this 
view, it is recommended, that the lectures raid illustrations of 
the professor be so composed and adjusted, as to furnish ma- 
terials for exercises in extemporaneous speaking. And th?n, 
instead of the usual mode of examination, let each student be 
called upon to give an account, in plain and perspicuous lan- 
guage, of the topics discussed in the lectures. Let the pro- 
fessor take the subject of pitch, for instance, and require the 
members of the class to rise successively in their places, and 
state their ideas on all the various topics, winch have been 

2* 



18 

lectured upon, under this head. This sort of discipline would 
tend to make their knowledge of the philosophy of elocution 
sound and accurate — and habituate them to exemplify, in 
their own speaking, the most important principles. 

In devising this system of instruction, I have had reference, 
chiefly, to our higher seminaries of learning. But it might be 
adopted, with a few slight modifications, in all our schools. 
The experience of several years has convinced me, that chil- 
dren cannot be taught to read by any method of tuition, that 
does not conform to the principles which have been laid down. 
There is little difficulty in communicating to a boy of the 
tenderest years all that is necessary to be learned by rule; 
and every teacher knows, it is infinitely easier to develope 
and improve the voice and gesticulation of a young person, than 
of one who has reached maturity of years or intellect. One 
of the best writers on this branch, who was also a most suc- 
cessful teacher, remarks — that 'An infant, just beginning to 
articulate, uses the inflections most correctly — and has an ex- 
act proportion in its cadences, and a speaking expression in 
its tones. Where are these in mature years? They have 
never been put into the hands of the artist, that he might turn 
them to their proper use. They have been laid aside, spoiled, 
abused — and, ten to one, they will never be good for any thing.'* 
I question whether we shall ever succeed in greatly improving 
the elocution of our country, unless this branch is taught, as 
it ought to be, in all our primary schools. The attention of 
parents and guardians ought to be directed to the subject, and 
they should take the greatest pains to see that their children 
read all their lessons, and utter every w T ord they have to say, 
with distinct enunciation, and in a graceful and forcible man- 
ner. 



Such are the means of acquiring a correct and energetic 
delivery, which I have been accustomed to offer to my pupils. 
And if we now turn to consider the purposes, to which the ac- 
quisition may be made subservient, we cannot fail to be 

* Mr. Sheridan Knowles, author of 'Virginius,' 'William Tell,' &c. &c. 



19 

struck with its great importance. It is not necessary to pro- 
nounce a declamatory eulogium, in order to remind you of 
the immense utility of eloquence in a country blessed with 
such free institutions as ours. Lord Brougham recited only 
its ordinary praises, when he spoke of eloquence as the means 
whereby justice and innocence might be best defended — use- 
ful truths most successfully promulgated from the pulpit — the 
march of tyranny most effectually resisted — defiance the 
most terrible hurled at the oppressor's head; and again as the 
4 protector of liberty — patron of improvement — guardian of 
all the blessings that have been showered upon our race/*' 
Nor, as 1 trust, is it any professional vainglory — any foolish 
desire to extol and magnify our art — that makes me claim for 
elocution, the distinction of being the most valuable ally of 
eloquence. The orator must stand or fall by his delivery! 
This is a truth equally proclaimed by the collective voice of 
antiquity, and of modern times. Let us look back, for a mo- 
ment, to the illustrious masters of the art of persuasion in an- 
cient Greece. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as 
to the comparative excellence, in general literature, of the an- 
cients and moderns, it is almost universally acknowledged, 
that the Greeks were the most successful cultivators of orato- 
ry the world has ever seen. It is, therefore, important to know 
how surely, among them, the art of delivery was held in the 
highest estimation. It w T as a popular art: and there can be 
no doubt, that the prevailing nice and critical taste for this 
branch, had a most powerful influence, in bringing their lan- 
guage to its unrivaled excellence in point of structure, and 
exciting the emulation of their public speakers, to aim at 
those rhetorical beauties, which are confessedly superior to 
any that are embodied in language. Their attention was early 
directed to a careful and scientific cultivation of the melody 
of speech. Heaven, indeed, seems particularly to have fitted 
Greece for the spot, where men should first 



•Hear and learn the secret power 



Of harmony in tones and numbers. 



* i Inaugural Discourse, on being installed Lord Rector of the University of 
Glasgow.' 



20 

Th6 fine bodily organization of the people — their delicious cli- 
mate — and the peculiar associations of their beautiful and ro- 
mantic country, conspired to make them exquisitely sensible 
to the power of Euphony. ; In the land of the cicala and 
nightingale, each sound was melody; and the softest combi- 
nations of articulate expression, were but echoes of the notes, 
which every zephyr woke along the cliffs of Parnes, or wafted 
from the bowers of Colonus. 5 It has been well said by a 
learned and accomplished writer, that, in the language of 
Greece, sacrifices which no other tongue could afford to make, 
and which none but Grecian ears would have demanded, are 
made to this principle of euphony at every turn. 'In the 
formation of the alphabet; in the adjustment of the syllables 5 
in the declension of nouns; the comparison of adjectives; 
the conjugation of verbs; the origin of dialects; and the ar- 
rangement of particles, its prevalence is equally perceptible. 
Substantives are left irregular; verbs are made anomalous; 
syntax itself is forced to bend to the demands of a balanced 
and musical enunciation*'* And if they gave this minute and 
anxious attention to the harmony of speech, they had a no 
less exquisite discrimination and enjoyment of the other 
qualities of good elocution. To us, the reports of the taste 
for rhetorical excellence, displayed by an Athenian assembly, 
appear exaggerated and incredible. Yet no facts are more 
strongly attested. On occasions even when the greatest in- 
terests w r ere at stake, they united the capacities of a board of 
critics, with the character of a meeting of practical men. At 
such times, while matters of the most momentous concern 
w T ere under discussion, every instance of a melodious period, 
or of striking and significant gesture, in the highly wrought 
passages of their orators, excited the most lively enthusiasm 
and applause. On the other hand, no one could hope to gain 
a hearing — far less to produce conviction, or procure reputa- 
tion as a speaker — who did not possess a chaste and effective 
delivery. Demosthenes himself was not listened to, when he 
first appeared in the tribunal, on account of his deficiency in 
this respect. And when, after toils which our modern orators 

* Sir Daniel Sandford — Lecture on Greek Literature. 



21 

would shrink from the thought of undertaking, he succeeded in 
overcoming his defects — was not his delivery pronounced by 
iEschines to be a principal part of his eloquence?* This is a 
familiar instance, and I only refer to it, because it enables me 
at once to answer those, who are continually crying out, that 
artificial culture must necessarily impart a constrained and 
formal air. Was Demosthenes less natural or less effective, 
after having given days and nights of labor to this pursuit? 
Assuredly not. Highly elaborated and chastened as his ora- 
tory w r as, it was withal eminently practical; and in matter, 
language, and elocution, full of manliness and simplicity. 
There was no empty wordiness — no false decoration — no 
rhetorical sophistry. 'A profound and manifest feeling of 
truth forked the lightnings of that eloquence,'! which 



fulmin'd over Greece 



To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne!' 

And it may be well presumed, that if the ancient critics had 
possessed the advantage of that extensive and minute analysis 
of the modes of speech, which has been given by Dr. Rush, 
and had thereby been enabled to describe, in terms having a 
distinct and definite meaning, the peculiar qualities of the 
great Athenian's manner, when he thundered from the tribu- 
nal, we should have derived, from their record of his perform- 
ances, lessons in elocution, as important as those which his 
imperishable speeches actually furnish us in composition. It 
is not to be auestioned, that the principal characteristic qual- 
ities of his orations would be eminently successful in the 
hands of a pleader, or parliamentary orator, of the present 
day; and I have little difficulty in believing, that his manner 
also was distinguished for those very qualities — clearness, force, 
and harmony — which captivate, inspire, and control a modern 
assembly. 

This argument in favor of rhetorical delivery, is corrobora- 
ted by abundant historical and experimental evidence, which 
the reading and observation of every one may easily furnish. 

* 'What would you have said,' observed iEschines > when his recital of his 
great rival's speech on the crown was received with a burst of admiration— 
1 What would you have said, had you heard him speak it?' 

t Letters .on the Epochs of Literature, by Thomas Campbell* 



22 

All the great masters of the art of persuasion, among those 
who use the English tongue, have been indebted, in great 
measure, for their success, to the aid of elocution. How much 
of the power of Lord Chatham, and his son William Pitt, may 
be attributed to their manner! What gave such effect to the 
accusing eloquence of Sheridan, on the trial of Warren Has- 
tings? Certainly, if we may judge of that celebrated effort by 
the specimens which have come down to us, it does not ap- 
pear to have been far beyond the reach of mediocrity; and 
yet, it was declared by those who heard it, to have eclipsed 
the most boasted harangues of ancient times. Whence this dif- 
ference of judgment? It is partly owing, no doubt, to the 
meagre and imperfect reports which were preserved; but in a 
greater part, to the fact that we have never been under the 
spell of that animated elocution, which enchanted and ruled 
the vast assemblage in Westminster Hall. 

It w r ould be easy to invest these topics with interest of another 
kind, by pointing out the dangers of neglecting this branch. I 
shall only refer, however, to Addison and Burke — in order to 
illustrate, how utterly vain and illusory is the notion, that the 
highest powers of reason can do every things and that matter 
alone, not manner, is to be attended to. Addison could hardly 
pronounce a sentence of good English, in public, and Burke was 
so insufferably dull, that his rising to speak was usually a sig- 
nal for a general flight of the members to the lobbies and cof- 
fee rooms — a phenomenon which gained for him the derisive 
title of ' dinner bell to the house of commons. 5 Now, who can 
doubt that the former of these great men, if he had labored to 
overcome his constitutional sensitiveness and timidity, and 
had prepared himself for appearing in public, by daily exer- 
cises in declamation, might have become an agreeable and per- 
suasive — if not a forcible speaker? — or that the gigantic 
Burke — 

'He, on whose name each distant age shall gaze, 
The mighty sea-mark of those troubled days. 1 
He, grand of soul, of genius unconfined, 
Born to delight, instruct, and mend mankind, 
Burke! in whose breast a Roman ardor glow'd, 
Whose copious tongue with Grecian richness flow'd'— 



23 

had he adopted a similar course of training, might have sway- 
ed the house of commons with more than imperial authority? 
In our day and country, it is, above all, important, that he 
who aspires to take a leading part in public life, should be an 
attractive and energetic speaker. Demands are continually 
made upon men of intelligence and active dispositions, to ap- 
pear before their fellow-citizens, and give their views and 
sentiments on matters that concern the general good. Innu- 
merable are the .cases, in which the man who is able to stand 
up and speak his mind, will, in that act, best promote the in- 
terests of the state or city in which he lives. It is par- 
ticularly worthy of the attention of students, that our own 
most celebrated orators — and we have some who are not sur- 
passed by any in the world — have, on all the great occasions 
of the display of their eloquence, been distinguished for an 
animated and impressive elocution. Who, that has ever listen- 
ed to the tones, in which that accomplished rhetorician, Ed- 
ward Everett, pours out the most noble sentiments, the most 
apposite reflections, the most touching appeals to the heart 
and imagination — or that has ever heard Webster or Clay, in 
any of their higher passages, will say that their delivery was 
not a principal part of their eloquence? For myself, in look- 
ing back to the memorable scenes of public business, in which 
I have beheld the two last mentioned s;reat men en^a^ed, in 
the senate of the United States, I can conceive nothing more 
glorious in declamation, than some of their bursts of elo- 
quence — when look, gesture, tone of voice were such 

4 As skill and graceful nature might suggest 
To a proficient of the tragic scene!' 

It will be said, perhaps, that these distinguished persons never 
paid any systematic attention to our art. It matters noU 
What it is important we should notice is, that in all their 
most successful passages, they conform to its principles: and 
that their defects and imperfections are deviations from those 
principles. And we have a right to draw the practical inference, 
that other men of equal talents, may, by making their style 
conform to the same principles, become equally impressive 
speakers; and that others of inferior abilities, may, still* by a 



24 

similar process, approach indefinitely near to this excellence. 
But we stop not here. — Why may we not hope, that by more 
sedulous training, according to the rules of a comprehensive 
art of elocution, something may yet be produced not less 
manly, direct, and energetic, and still more harmonious and 
highly polished, than what we have been accustomed to con- 
sider the finest specimens of American eloquence? 

Let me remark, here, that there is one species of oratory 
very common in our country, to the success of which a pro- 
ficiency in this branch is absolutely indispensable. I allude to 
that class of written discourses, comprising eulogies on dis- 
tinguished men, addresses on great anniversaries, academical 
discourses, etc., which are either read from the manuscript, 
or committed to memory and recited. Were the orator, on 
an occasion of this kind, an accomplished elocutionist, he 
would be able to combine the peculiar advantages, which 
belong, respectively, to written composition and extempor- 
aneous speaking. His speech might have all that high rhe- 
torical finish, which the most sedulous preparation can bestow; 
and he would be able to impart to it the most earnest and 
spirited expression. Though ; his fervors' were ' a week old,' 
he might give them the appearance of being produced at the 
moment. This power of delivering written speeches, with an 
extemporaneous air, is an inestimable acquirement; and, with 
a view to it alone, the study of elocution deserves the serious 
attention of all, who may ever be called upon to read dis- 
courses in public. 

This observation applies with particular force to those min- 
isters of religion, who are accustomed to read their sermons, 
or deliver them memoriter. To them, a captivating and im- 
posing delivery is almost every thing. How can a man dis- 
charge his duties at the sacred desk, with satisfaction to him- 
self, and advantage to his hearers, if he is unable to read? It 
is scarcely too much to say, it is more important to the 
interests of religion, that the clergyman should have a good 
elocution, than that he should possess any extraordinary pow- 
ers as a writer. Certain it is, at least, that if the holy scrip- 
tures — and the psalms and hymns — and th& service of the epis- 



25 

copal church — were read properly, with the just and efficient 
expression of those thoughts and sentiments, which fill the 
heart of the priest, if he be in a right frame of mind, — if they 
were read so as to make the people understand and/ea?, they 
could not fail to promote the highest ends of the pulpit orator, 
as effectually as any thing he himself could say. 

Besides the purposes of the orator, upon which I have 
thought it appropriate to dwell, there are others to which a 
proficiency in this branch may be made equally subservient. 
It is in the power of a few only to become accomplished ora- 
tors; but there are numbers who may become agreeable 
speakers, and almost every one may be taught to read well. 
— And because you cannot hope to reach the foremost rank, 
will you be therefore content to retain about you all your 
faults of indistinct articulation, and inexpressive and dis- 
cordant intonation? Will you take no pains to acquire the 
power of reading so as to give a high degree of clearness, 
force, and elegance to your report, as it may be called, of the 
thoughts, sentiments, and imagery of an author? — Where is 
the intelligent christian family, that w^ould not find it highly 
advantageous to possess a good reader in one of its members? 
How much might he add to the resources of the domestic 
circle in refined and rational recreation! What more delight- 
ful and ennobling gratification can there be of a literary kind, 
than to contemplate the beauties of our English classics in 
that perfectly reflecting mirror which he would be able to set 
up? — And higher ends might be served — the highest ends of 
wisdom and virtue. Is a moral essay or a sermon to be read 
or discussed at home? — how much more effect will the argu- 
ments and exhortations produce upon the mind, when pre- 
sented in an agreeable and forcible manner, than if they 
were given by a stiff, languid, and mechanical reader! 

But I will not pursue this topic farther. Let me only re- 
mark, in conclusion, that it is on grounds of utility I presume 
to recommend this branch to your favor. For, admirable as 
elocution is, as a fine accomplishment, and productive as it may 
be of the no inconsiderable advantage of conferring actual 
enjoyment of the most refined and ennobling description, I 

3 



26 x 

should not have thought of occupying your valuable time so 
long,if these were its sole or principal advantages. But if 
the business, of a class, conducted on the principles which 
have been laid down, be faithfully performed, I can assure 
the student, he will most certainly experience its 'benefits in 
the pursuits of science and literature, in discharging the duties 
of professional ar^d commercial fife, and in every situation in 
which he may be placed. 



